Box and cell kites have been known for many years in various different configurations. Box kites are thought of as having rectangular sails at the opposite ends of three or four spars. Cell kites are thought of as hollow cells stacked next to each other with or without flat sides, sometimes imitating traditional square flat sided box kites.
Lawrence Hargrave has been accepted in some annals as the inventor of the original box kite. That construction featured long, straight spars running longitudinally the full length of the kite with diagonal spreader braces at the opposite ends which serve to maintain the entire structure spread apart in a rigid manner with flat cloth sails distended in a quadrangle, typically in a square shape giving it the traditional “box” appearance. Box kites incorporate quadrangle sails which may be in the shape of a trapezoid, parallelogram, rhombus, or the traditional rectangular or square shape, but designs have also incorporated three spars and triangular box-like sails.
Many efforts have been made to improve on the construction of box kites, the efficiency and ease of manufacture, assembly, and performance thereof. Some focus has been on the connectors between the diagonal struts within the box sails and the longitudinal spars. An example of an early such connector is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 607,129 to Potter, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This patent shows a metal fining formed on one end with a square ring, defining a square, opening in one direction and a square stub tube projecting perpendicular thereto.
Work on unrelated platforms such as aircraft-shaped kites has led to projection of spars or struts extending in multiple different axes and at different angles to one another. V-shaped connectors have been purposed with a pair of tubular elements in one plane and a stub tube projecting in a different plane. Devices of this type are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,598,833 and 6,663,050 to Tabor, Whose disclosures are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Such devices, while striving for improved performance in the particular construction, fail to provide for a convenient, reliable, and effective spar and strut connection.